Now a day earlier and two days longer than it used to be, the 29th-annual French Quarter Festival begins tomorrow, Thursday April 12. If you’ve had a chance to peruse this month’s issue of OffBeat, you’ll notice that the entire schedule for the Festival is included in OffBeat, along with maps, special events, workshops and [...]
Not Quite Eddie Vedder News, But …
…this physical malady thing seems to be going around. Saturday night’s “Who’s Bad” Michael Jackson tribute show at the House of Blues is going to be short a Michael according a press release. The show normally has two Michaels, but one, Joseph Bell, has been sidelined. Here’s his story: Hello! How are you? It’s me! [...]
Disneyfied—Not.
I’ve heard a lot about the “Disneyfication” of the French Quarter. That term generally means, in a negative way, that a place is going to be stripped of its original character and homogenized and repackaged in a sanitized format. People who want a clean, orderly, quiet Quarter are often accused of trying to make the [...]
A First Look at Treme’s Third Season
There’s no new video online yet, but last night’s “My Darlin’ New Orleans” fundraiser hosted by HBO’s Treme showed a scene from the upcoming season. The story has moved forward to the fall 2007, and the scene shown came from that October when the police arrested Glen David Andrews and Rebirth Brass Band’s Derrick Tabb [...]
If I Were a Kid …
… I would live for Bracket Town. Bracket Town is the NCAA’s fan center in the Convention Center, and while there was less there for me as an adult than I expected or hoped – an awkward video Q&A session with former Arkansas Razorbacks’ coach Nolan Richardson, for example – it is the best Celebration [...]
Loudspeaking
The rocky road to achieving fairness and accountability in managing sound in the city’s largest entertainment districts continues to plug along. Before I describe the latest developments, I want to assert that once the so-called noise ordinance is revised, introduced into city council, and approved, it will apply to everyone in the city: all businesses, [...]
Bourbon Business Is Victim of Noise Issues
Bourbon Heat, the bar at 711 Bourbon Street, was recently fined $500 for being a “public nuisance” based on complaints from neighbors about the club. Strict sanctions were handed down requiring the venue to keep its doors closed, not use speakers in its courtyard, and prohibiting barkers in the street. Doors and windows are also [...]
Noise Ordinance Still Undecided–Neglecting the Birthplace of Jazz
Last week, I met with representatives of the VCPORA (Vieux Carre Property Owners and Residents Association). This is the group that’s been behind the very public, very loud (how ironic) protest against “noise” in the Quarter. Most of that noise is, of course, music. Somehow crowd noise, which on average is much louder than most [...]
Buku in Four Minutes
On Sunday, OffBeat‘s Patrick Rulh rolled video for the day at Buku at Mardi Gras World, capturing Skrillex, Big K.R.I.T., Big Gigantic, G-Eazy and more. Here are the results.
A Look Back on Buku
Saturday: Ten p.m. at Mardi Gras World Saturday was rowdy. St. Patrick’s Day was a contributing factor, but the music and scene at Buku were bigger ones. Buku combined the best of electronic dance music (EDM), hip-hop, and places where the lines blur together for a party that started just before dusk and went late [...]
